National Invitation Tournament

National Invitation Tournament

Current season, competition or edition: 2024 National Invitation Tournament
Sport	College basketball
Founded	1938
Founder	Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association
Motto	College Basketball’s Beginning
No. of teams	32
Most recent champion(s)	Seton Hall (2nd title)
Most titles	St. John's (5 titles)
TV partner(s)	ESPN
Related competitions	NIT Season Tip-Off NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament College Basketball Invitational CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
Official website	www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-men/nit

The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country which are selected annually. From its founding in 1938 to 2022, the semifinals and finals were always played at Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York City. Predating the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament by one year, the NIT was considered the most prestigious post-season showcase for college basketball before its status was superseded in the mid-1950s by the NCAA tournament.^[1][2]

A second, much more recent "NIT" tournament is played in November and known as the NIT Season Tip-Off. Formerly the "Preseason NIT" (and still sometimes referred to as such colloquially), it was founded in 1985. Unlike the postseason NIT, its final rounds are played at Madison Square Garden. Both tournaments were operated by the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association (MIBA) until 2005, when they were purchased by the NCAA,^[3] and the MIBA disbanded.

Unless otherwise qualified, the terms NIT or National Invitation Tournament refer to the post-season tournament in both common and official use.